Imagine being locked down during the Covid-19 pandemic, when the entire world was glued to the net, without any internet at all. No access to news or doctors, no chats with family and friends, and no entertainment online.

For millions of people, this wasn't an imaginary scenario: during the first 18 months of the pandemic, India’s government deprived nearly 12 million people of internet access.

Covid-19 highlighted how, in our 21st century, internet access is a fundamental enabler of our rights: from health to education to quality information. In 2024, when billions of people will go to the polls, internet access is also essential to making an informed decision about how to vote.

Yet power-hungry governments are going to huge lengths to control what people see, hear, and say online. Authoritarians continue to silence debate and dissent – but democratic leaders, too, are increasingly stifling the voices of people who try to hold them accountable.

India’s government, which commands huge power over the tech companies based in the country, holds the dubious record of shutting down the internet more than any other country in the world. These shutdowns affect people who are elderly, disabled, or poor the most. In the run-up to the 2024 election, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party have ramped up internet censorship, closing down 2 news sites in 6 days and spreading disinformation to sway voters.

China’s infamous censorship regime is ever-expanding, with users of platforms like Weibo and Weixin (WeChat) facing constant surveillance and content removals. For people living in exile with large followings, having an overseas social media account offers protection from the blockages that befall these platforms. Yet recently, when it found itself unable to censor or silence these influencers, Beijing relied on old-fashioned thuggery to wage a war of harassment against their followers in China, including intimidation and arbitrary imprisonment.

In Russia, Putin’s government wields enormous control over online spaces, harsh ‘anti-extremism’ legislation allows for extrajudicial blocking of websites, and access to information of public interest – essential during elections – is severely restricted. The authorities have blocked or banned thousands of websites and social media platforms, international media, and domestic media perceived as critical of the regime. 

Internet shutdowns are now the first page of the dictator’s playbook: control communication and you can control the populace.

In this episode of ARTICLE 19’s podcast Techtonic, Doug Madory of internet infrastructure analysts group, Kentik, talks to host Chris Stokel-Walker about how internet shutdowns affect us all.

In the context of ever-increasing online control, ARTICLE 19 is working to protect and extend people’s digital freedoms worldwide.

Globally, ARTICLE 19 is one of very few civil society organisations with a seat at the UN International Telecommunications Union’s table, where we push for human rights to be at the heart of all their decisions – from assigning satellite orbits to improving infrastructure in the Global South. Our advocacy there has resulted in positive action on community networks: small, nonprofit operators that are vital to getting rural and remote communities online.

In Central Asia, ARTICLE 19 is advocating for robust protection of free expression online. Our research exposes how governments in the region routinely block independent media outlets and other online resources, as well as using vague legal provisions to bring legal action against journalists and to jail individuals for as little as a social media post. We also support the brave activists resisting repression on the ground in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

And in Iran, where internet shutdowns – especially during protests – provide cover for the authorities to murder and maim with impunity, ARTICLE 19 works with our networks on the ground to develop tech that enables people to evade censorship and get online. In 2023, we provided emergency support to 1,200 people, including protesters, ethnic religious minorities, and LGBTQI+ people.

Like the woman who lost 4 family members on flight PS752, which Iran’s Revolutionary Guard shot down on 8 January 2020, killing all 176 on board. She was one of dozens arrested at the funeral of 17-year-old schoolgirl Armita Garawand, who died after being assaulted by Iran’s ‘morality police’ for wearing ‘improper hijab’. We secured her social accounts – including group messages between the families of flight PS752 victims – when she was being transported to a detainment centre, so that the authorities could not access them. As a result, she was released 3 days later, and the families’ privacy was protected.